Paint Me a Birmingham
by ninjatomomi
Summary: A masterpiece, it had to be a masterpiece, and maybe then she'll take him back into her loving arms. Based off the song by Tracy Lawrence Genderbent Canada too


Paint Me a Birmingham

As I walked along the boardwalk near my apartment building, lonesome and heartbroken, I looked out onto the endless sea recalling the earlier events of the week…

My girlfriend, Madeline, and I were at the park, which was situated closer to her part of the city. Together, we sat on a bench and watched other people walk by, just enjoying each other's company. I looked over at her because normally she would be radiating happiness, smiling at the birds or at the random people, but today she just looked off. She looked down at the ground for long periods of time and she wouldn't smile. Her hair covered her eyes, giving her a depressed look. Currently, she was looking down at the ground so I reached out and lightly shook her shoulder. Her head snapped up and she almost lost her glasses in the motion.

"Madeline," I asked her, "What's wrong? You're not acting like yourself today."

"Gilbert, I-I've been doing some thinking recently…" She paused in her thought and quickly looked down again. "I don't think that I can take it any more."

"Take what Mattie?" I started to panic. What could I have done to make her so upset?

"You…You always seem to put me behind yourself." She looked up and I saw the pain and sadness running through her violet eyes. "Gilbert…I…I want to break up with you."

"But, but Mattie!" I sputtered at her, "I love you!" I was so in shock at her words.

"I know Gil, I know but you only love me after yourself. If you truly loved me, you would love me as equally as you love yourself or more." She got up from her seat on the bench and took a few steps but she suddenly stopped and turned to face me. I saw more tears start forming in the corners her eyes.

"Gilbert, if somehow you are able to get past your pride and are able to place someone above yourself, then maybe I'll give you a second chance. That is, if you still love me. You already know where you can find me if you want that chance."

With tears streaming down her beautiful face, Madeline once again turned around and walked away.

I snapped out of my flashback and looked back at the rolling waves of the ocean. I sighed and continued my walk down the boardwalk. I felt so lost. The girl I had know for two years, dated for one year and three months, had broken up with me. I loved her and yet when I look back, not once had I placed her above myself or even told her that I loved her with all my being and now I regret that. But wait...she said that she would give me a second chance if I could change! But how? How can I show her that I love her not only as an equal but more than myself?

I pondered this thought as I walked down the long stretch of boardwalk until I saw a man. He was sitting there, on a ledge that overlooked the ocean with a paintbrush in one hand and a canvas in the other. I walked over to him and watched as he painted the ocean waves as they moved in and out, back and forth across the sands.

"Hey," I asked him, "Do you paint anything other than the ocean?"

"It depends." He stopped painting and looked up to me. "If you have twenty dollars, I'll paint you anything you want."

"Anything?"

"Mmmhm" He nodded his head.

I silently processed this information to myself., "This could be the thing to prove to Mattie that I truly love her. What should he paint for her though? What would she like?" I stopped thinking, giving my brain a rest, and took out a twenty dollar bill from my wallet. I gave it to him and watched as he gratefully placed it into his pocket.

"So sir," He addressed me as he took the bill from my hand, "What do you want in your painting?"

"I don't know what I want, I need to think about it a little." I pounded my hands on my head, encouraging it to find something, anything that would convince Madeline that I changed. "I know!" I practically jumped in place from where I stood.

"Alright, let me get ready." The old man reached down into the bag by his side and pulled out a fresh empty canvas. "Ok, what would you like to be painted?"

"I want it to be a Birmingham. I need it to be a little house, much like the one she grew up in. The house, it has to have a porch that goes all the way around it too." I paused to think of what else there could be. "A swing!," I remembered, "There has to be a swing! A big front yard swing and her in a white cotton dress sitting there, right on it! The season has to be spring too! With flowers blooming and green all around her. Yes! That's how I want it! It'll be a masterpiece that she'll love." As I became excited, I practically yelled out over half of what I wanted to be in the picture. This will surly get her to love me again.

As he took in what I had told him, the man looked up at me from where he sat, and I got the feeling that he knew what I was going through.

"Son," he said to me, "Where would you like to be, here in your painting?"

"I want to be back there," I replied, looking at the ocean's gentle waves, "Back there in the arms of the one I love the most."

* * *

After waiting about forty minutes the painting was done. He wrapped the dry masterpiece in some brown paper and handed it to me. I took it and thanked him. I then took off, fast walking, not wanting to break the work of art, in the direction of Madeline's apartment.

Normally, it would take me about thirty minutes to reach Madeline's residence, but today it took me about fifteen. When I reached the building, I ran up to her room on the forth floor and rang her doorbell about a dozen times. I didn't stop until I saw the door handle turn.

"Hello?" She questioned timidly as she opened the door.

"Mattie!' When I saw her, I was so happy that I couldn't hold my emotions in. I wanted to hug and kiss her but I remembered that we were no longer together. That thought brought down the level of my happiness.

"Gilbert?" She looked confused. "I-I don't understand? Why are you here?"

"Mattie…I thought about what you said, how I need to place others before myself. You said that I should place someone there above my ego, above my pride. I want that first person to be you." I explained to her, giving her my winning smile. When I looked her in her face, I noticed something was wrong with her.

"Mattie? Madeline? What's wrong?" I asked, instantly worried that I had done something wrong. I reached out and placed my hand on her shoulder.

"Is that why you weren't here for so long? You were actually taking in what I said and thinking about it?" She was crying now, tears flowing freely down her pretty face.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I take in what you said? Did you think that I wouldn't listen to what you said?" I watched as she nodded her head, unable to speak.

"I th-thought that you b-brushed me o-off and found someone else. T-that's what I r-reasoned since y-you didn't come f-for the whole w-week."

"No! I would never replace you Madeline! I loved you since the day I first laid my eyes on you. Look! I know what would make you happy! Here, this is for you." I handed her the wrapped package. I watched as she daintily took off the wrapping, softly sniffling to herself. When she had the package fully opened, she stopped sniffling. Her shining, watery eyes suddenly grew wide as she gazed at the masterpiece.

"Gilbert! It's beautiful! Is this really for me?" She was no longer crying and her violet eyes shone with happiness and surprise.

"Yes. It's proof to show that I love you and that care about you more than myself."

"Thank you Gilbert! Thank you so much!" She placed the painting down and ran up and grasped me in a hug. It was then that I knew that I had earned my way back into Madeline's loving arms.

* * *

**Ok, so I was totally distracted when I wrote this story so if it sucks I'm really sorry. I was watching the women's National Championships with Connecticut vs Stanford and my mom was really loud so yeah...anyway this song was based off of the song by Tracy Lawrence**. **I wanted this story to be a little bit better but oh well. I guess if you guys want it, I could change it. It might take a while though, since I'm on spring break and I need to do poetry packet work for English :(**


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